BIRDS OF NOETH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 331 



or fuscous-blaek intermixed with brownish gray and spotted along 

 edges with grayish white or pale gray, the tertials blackish with 

 oblique spots of pale gray (passing externally into white) along edges; 

 lower back and rump dusky brownish gray, the feathers more or less 

 distinctly tipped with pale gray or whitish and with an indistinct 

 subterminal bar of dusky; upper tail-coverts white, the more pos- 

 terior ones distinctly barred with dusky, the anterior ones with fewer 

 and more irregular markings; four middle rectrices brownish gray, 

 spotted along edges with dusky (the gray interspaces becoming 

 whitish on edges), the remaining rectrices white (tinged with gray on 

 distal portion of outer webs), barred (rather broadly) with dusky; 

 anterior lesser wing-coverts dark brownish gray narrowly margined 

 with paler; middle and greater coverts mixed brownish gra}'" and 

 blackish (the latter in form of irregular, sometime large and conspicu- 

 ous, spots) and spotted, more or less with pale gray or grayish white; 

 secondaries brownish gray, edged, or spotted along edges, with 

 white; primary coverts and primaries dark fuscous or fuscous-black, 

 the three or four innermost (proximal) primaries paler and more 

 grayish, narrowly margined terminally with whitish and sometimes 

 spotted with whitish and dusky along edges ; sides of head (including 

 indistinct broad superciliary stripe) and neck and entire under parts 

 white, the chin and upper throat (sometimes "whole throat), abdomen, 

 anal region, and median anterior under tail-coverts immaculate, the 

 sides of head and neck and foreneck narrowly streaked with dusky, 

 the chest and upper breast (sometimes whole breast) irregularly 

 streaked and spotted (sometimes with a few irregular bars also), the 

 sides, flanks, and lateral and posterior under tail-coverts barred (more 

 or less irregularly) with dusky or blackish: axillars and under 

 wing-coverts white, the former narrowly and irregularly barred with 

 brownish gray, the latter with mostly V-shaped marks of dusky 

 brownish gray, the under primar}^ coverts liarred with light gray, or 

 with light gray predominating, margined terminally and barred along 

 edges with white; inner webs of primaries light gray darkening dis- 

 tally, the proximal portion finely mottled or freckled with whitish 

 toward edges, this mottling becoming very distinct on proximal quills; 

 bill blackish becoming more grayish, or dusky horn colored, basally; 

 iris dark brown: legs and feet yellow in life. 



Winter 'pluiiiage. — General color of upper parts light gray, the 

 black m.arkings of the summer plumage (but not the white spotting) 

 being absent; foreneck and chest more narrowly streaked, breast 

 nearly if not quite immaculate, and sides and flanks irregularly 

 marked with grayish ; otherwise as in summer. 



Young. — Similar to the winter plumage, but gray of upper parts 

 darker and more brownisli, the white spotting tinged with light 

 brownish buffy. 



